AfriAgric
Sheep
Farming
|Technical
Overview

6.
TECHNICAL
OVERVIEW

6.1
Recommended floor space and
trough space for sheep

The
table
below provides
specifications in terms of the recommended floor space
and trough space
for Sheep.

Weight

Floor
Space

TroughSpace

SolidFloor

Slatted
Floor

Open
Yard

Kg

m²/animal

m²/animal

m/animal

m/animal

Ewe/
Doe

35

0.8

0.7

2

0.35

Ewe/
Doe

50

1.1

0.9

2.5

0.40

Ewe/
Doe

70

1.4

1.1

3

0.45

Lamb/
Kid

0.4
- 0.5

0.3 -
0.4

-

0.25
- 0.30

Ram/
Buck

3.0

2.5

-

0.5

6.2
Layout
of the farm

Shown
below is a possible farm
layout that AfriAgric Sheep farm
could adopt. The layout shows
prime
sections of the farm and these
include the following key areas:

The administration office

The store room

Shower/ toilet

Feeding Alleys which include
areas for food (creeps, grain,
hay or grass)

Milking Palour

Lambing pens

Isolation pane for animals
suspected of illness

While
specialized housing is
not usually necessary, the
business could consider fencing
to enable
easy control of the animals as
well as protect the flock from
theft.

6.3
Breeds

The
Dorper is a breed of
Sheep
that are well adapted to
the North West region.
The entity could also
consider the South
African Mutton Marino
breed for farming
purposes.
These breeds are
productive in semi-arid
regions as well as high
rainfall sour grassveld
areas.

The
following is an account
on
the performance of the
Dorper breed.

The
Dorper is known for the
following qualities:

The good mothering
qualities: this is
demonstrated by the
ability of the
Dorper ewe to
nourish lambs under
difficult conditions

Low mortality
rate: Dorpers are
hardy animals, with
sufficient space,
good grazing and
clean water

Easy Care: Dorpers
are easy to care for
animals

Good quality
skins: dorper skins
are regarded among
the
best in the world as
it has no wrinkles
and has a smooth
grain. The
skin is highly
recommended for the
manufacture of high
quality leather
clothes and gloves

Adaptability and
hardiness: Dorpers
are well adapted to
breed under arid
conditions. They can
also be farmed in
ultra cold,
snow and wet
conditions

The following
is an account on
the performance of the
Mutton Marino breed.

Male

Female

100-day weight

32 Kg

29 Kg

Birth weight

4.1 Kg

3.8 Kg

Mature Weight

127 Kg

77 Kg

The
Mutton Merino
is known for
the following
qualities:

The high
fertility and
fecundity

The good
level of
adaptability
and hardiness

The good
mothering
ability

The good
production of
milk

The Merino
is known to be
a
non-selective
grazed

The
outstanding
growth rate

The good
feed
conversion
ratio

The
production of
quality
carcasses that
demonstrate
tender
meat of fine
quality and
evenly spread
fat